For my Earth Month Challenge area, I am doing energy and transportation. In order to save energy, I will be completing four cumulative challenges, adding one each week, with increasing difficulty and energy savings. For the first week, my challenge is simply to turn off lights whenever I am not in a room and to unplug appliances, like my phone ad laptop, when I am not using them. The only thing that I foresee being difficult about this challenge is that I am very forgetful so it is easy for me to walk out of a room without realizing that I left a light on. One resource that I plan to use to help with this are stickers that go over light switch panels that were given out at a presentation on Morill Tower energy usage which say, “turn off,” and will remind me to turn off the lights.
For the second week, my challenge is to go outside and do something active rather than watching TV or playing video games in order to minimize my usage of electronics. The only thing that I see being challenging about this is that it may be time consuming because outdoor activities tend to require more of a time commitment, however this issue can be resolved by simply planning my activities in advance.
For the third week, the challenge I will be completing is to take colder, shorter showers to save energy used to heat the water and get it all the way up to the tenth floor where I live. The most challenging part of this will be getting used to having the shower being cold because I am so used to hot showers, but at the same time this will make me want to get out sooner and only shower when I need it instead of when I am stressed or just need to wake up.
Finally, for the fourth week, my challenge is to use the stairs. The most difficult aspect of this challenge, other than the obvious physical aspect, is that it will be time consuming. Because I live on the tenth floor of Morill, already have a long walk home after class, and sometimes need to come back very quickly to grab something before leaving, I am going to give myself three elevator uses for the week, which can only be used on the way up. This way if I need to get something quickly, I will not have to be late or run to class after going up and back down ten flights of stairs, but I will still be significantly reducing the energy needed to take me to and from my room.